What can you do about them? Well, floaters don't go away, and they don't really get worse. Over time they tend to "sink" out of your central vision and you brain "filters" them out so you don't notice them so much anymore. They almost never cause significant visual problems except, of course, if they cause a secondary retinal detachment as discussed above. The only way to decrease or remove the floaters is with a major surgery called a vitrectomy. As a retinal specialist for almost 2 decades I've only done this procedure to remove floaters in a handful of cases.

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Yes, they can increase a little, but if you are seeing tons and tons of new floaters or having a lot of flashes of light, this may be a sign that you have pulled a hole in your retina. In this case you should see an ophthalmologist ASAP.

The only thing the medicines that say they are good at treating floaters are good for is floating money out of your pocket and into the hands of a bunch of crooks :o)

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You know from past experience that I won't abandon you just because you help my poor, starving, barefoot, girls to walk with confidence through the snake infested tall grass with their new shoes on.......and my youngest is your age, can cook, is awful good looking and single at the moment lol!

Hi, my floaters were decreasing but now I am starting to see them a lot more, and my eyes are very sensitive to light. It also seems that my vision is a little off. I have been having sinus pressure for a while could that be causing it. I don't have migraines though

Hi, I thought I would give you an update. I still have bad floaters but I also have some anxiety problems I believe. My floaters have not decreased but I don't think they have increased. I just know I have a good amount of them in both eyes. I know they can sink out of your vision but mine have not gotten any better. I just want them to go away. I have heard of a guy in Washington D.C. who uses lasers to get rid of floaters but I don't know if his procedure is safe yet. He has done many patients though.

Thanks for the update. I'm sorry to hear that you are still having some much trouble.

Using a laser to try and break up the floaters so that they will maybe sink out of your vision is safe if extreme care is taken to not get to close to the retina, back of the lens or other important structures inside the eye.

In my experience as a retina surgeon if the floaters are that much of a problem I would just proceed with a pars plana vitrectomy. This gets rid of all the floaters but, as I stated before, there are significant risks to this surgery.

I personally don't think zapping a few strands of vitreous floaters is the way to go....but if you wanted to try it, and the ophthalmologist was careful, it probably wouldn't hurt you.

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Yeah I can live with them I just have other symptoms so I think that it effects my floaters or could be the cause. I am just surprised that at 22 I have so many floaters. Most of my friends are like what is a floater. My own parents don't even have them. They are like little black specks, and I have them in both eyes.

It is not unusual, at least in my practice, to have young folks with floaters. The best way, of course, to make sure that is what is causing your symptoms is to have a dilated eye exam by an ophthalmologist. But, from what you have been telling me, I'd bet that your floaters are from a posterior vitreous detachment.......I had my first PVD when I was in my mid 20's.....

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